Finished Nursery 360

Belly du Jour

No Sleep

So all of a sudden, sleep is becoming a big problem. Last nite I went to bed around 12 and was up at 2. The night before, down at 11:30 and up at 3. Phoebe is sort of a pregnant, sick and sleep-deprived zombie at this point. I guess I'm supposed to get used to this right? lol.

Oh, and Mark is sick now too. fun times in the Tooley house! :)

Cuuuuuutttteee

Birth Playlist

Simple Things (Album) - Zero 7
When It Falls (Album) - Zero 7
Shepherd Moons (Album) - Enya
Watermark (Album) - Enya
Memory of Trees (Album) - Enya
A Day Without Rain (Album) - Enya

Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright
All I Want Is You -U2
All Is Full Of Love - Björk
Angels - Wax Poetic Feat. Norah Jones
Besame Mucho - Diana Krall
Climb - Mos Def
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Daylight - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay
E Horo - Mary Jane Lamond
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay
Heroine - The Edge & Sinéad O'Connor
Honey Honey - Feist
Hunter - Björk
I Go to Sleep - Sia
I Love You - Sarah McLachlan
Into Dust - Mazzy Star
Kissing You - Des'ree
Protection - Massive Attack
Soon We'll Be Found - Sia
Sparks - Coldplay
Swayambhu - Solar Twins
The Sweetest Gift - Sade
Theme From Harry's Game - Clannad
Unravel - Björk
Veni Creator Spiritus - Paul Schwartz
When I Look In Your Eyes - Diana Krall
Wild Horses - The Sundays
Yellow - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay

Sick Again

I'm two days into a summer cold that is going around, which I already went through once back in June. This really sucks. I feel awful. :(

On the bright side, Doula Sarah dropped by today with our birth kit! It's really neat to see almost everything we need to have a baby, all together in a storage bin, just sitting in the nursery ready to be used!

We also have the inflatable birthing pool now which I can't wait to blow up! We're going to do a test run of the "hose maneuver" this week, which involves running a hose down the laundry chute and Mark seeing how fast he can get it hooked up to the spout in the basement.

It's starting to feel like we are really ready for this birth! We are so very EXCITED to meet this baby!

Dr. Appt. (8/22 - 37 weeks)

Nothing too interesting to report. Everything looking good! We are OFFICIALLY Ok'd to have a baby any day now!

Week 39

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

He Farted in our General Direction...

Actually, he farted RIGHT ON US!

Tonite was Borders nite.
We Love Borders nite.
It's free.
We catch up on all our magazines and graphic novels.
Sometimes the other customers are annoying.
They talk to loud.
They have annoying whispered conversations.
They talk with their mouths full of cookie and smack their lips.
and sometimes....just sometimes...
They stand with their buttocks level with your FACE, 2 feet away,
rip the biggest fart of ALL TIME...
and then they just WALK AWAY!!!

LOL.

Sweet Dream

Yesterday at work Mark was watching some particularly monotonous training videos at his desk when he nodded off for a minute. He had a dream that he was kissing me and woke himself up puckering his lips! lol. Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard?

Fantastic!

The nurse just called to let me know that I'm negative for the group B strep! yay! no anitbiotics for me!

This week is vacation so I'm spending it getting caught up on my "To Do" list. Mark's mom has volunteered to come over practically everyday and help me. Thank you Becky! :D Over the weekend we worked on the nursery and yesterday did 9 million loads of baby laundry. It's pretty awesome to have help since I wouldn't accomplish much by myself. It takes alot of effort just to get up off a chair and walk from one room to another. Forget carrying anything or picking anything up off the floor. lol.

Speaking of discomfort, I'm pretty much there. Sleeping is a challenge and I'm almost becoming used to being in pain in any position. Walking sucks too. But it's really not that bad, just annoying. So, message to baby: "anytime now sweet-bear! come on down!"

Dr. Appt. (8/15)

This was our big 36 week appt. at the doctor's office, which really didn't mean much except it lasted a little longer. Everything looked good and I hope to hear back next week on the Group B Strep tests. If you are positive (which 50% of women are) it just means they want to give you a round or two of antibiotics while in labor. My weight and blood pressure are doing great and I'm not swollen which is awesome. It doesn't look like the baby is coming early either because I'm not dilated at all. I was somewhat disappointed at this news because although I still have stuff to do to prepare for baby, I'm ready to get this birthing show on the road already. The thought of being pregnant for up to 5 more weeks makes me want to punch Mark! lol. :)

Week 38

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Note: According to MY calender, I'm 37 weeks, entering week 38. According to actual measurements and the 9/11 due date, I'm a little over 36 weeks. Very confusing. :(

Birth News

So I feel like I can finally talk about our big change in plans at last! Over the last couple of weeks, some drama has gone down between our OB/midwife team and the hospital. It came to our attention that for the moment at least, we might want to figure out a backup plan. I started talking to our doula Sarah about the possibility of doing a homebirth with Suzanne, the midwife she is apprenticing with. Once I got over the initial shock of having to think about a change in plans this late in the game, I totally threw myself into the idea of making this happen, whether or not the hospital worked out it's issues with our OB.

Homebirth was something that I was interested in from the get go, but was under the impression that #1-it was illegal on the Missouri side and #2-it was definitely NOT covered by insurance at all. But apparently I was mistaken, Suzanne is a CNM (certified nurse midwife) so I guess that makes it legal, as opposed to a "lay midwife", and our insurance will cover some of the cost, probably not alot, but it's worth it to us to make it work financially.

The third reason we didn't seriously consider homebirth at first was that Mark didn't feel comfortable with the idea at the time. After receiving a great deal of childbirth education, and seeing how well the pregnancy has gone, he's now all for it and I think we're both feeling some anxiety lifted from our shoulders. There were so many things about going to the hospital that we were uncomfortable with (despite trying to convince ourselves otherwise) and, if everything goes well, we don't have to deal with all that now.

If something were to happen that required us to go to the hospital, we'll still head over to Olathe. I'm going to continue to go to my weekly appts. at the doctor's office as well as seeing Suzanne, so that if I needed to transfer from the homebirth, it will look as if that was my plan all along. It's very confusing actually.

I'm so excited about the changes that this decision brings. My goal is to actually birth in the water which I'm REALLY looking forward to. Suzanne brings a birthing pool that we set up and connect to hoses running from the washer. It sounds fantastic. Mark is looking forward to being able to be even MORE involved at home than he would have been able to be in the hospital. It will just be more intimate and comfortable for us, and hopefully making the birth safer and less traumatic for me and baby.

We had our first appt. with Suzanne tonite at home. She was very pleased to find that baby is now in the "perfect" position and down quite low. She gave us a list of things to gather for the birth like vinyl tablecloths to protect the floor and bed, towels, baby supplies, snacks, etc. She brings the rest! We'll see her again the 25th for another check.

I've got a doctor's appt. tomorrow that is our big "36 week appt." at which some more tests will be done. Will update on how that goes this weekend. :)

Suzanne's Website

Pre-Baby Celebration

Thanks so much to Becky & Cyndie (and also to Jenni W!) for hosting our celebration on Sat. nite! They really went all out!

We felt so grateful that so many supportive friends and family were able come out and hang out with us for a few hours in a hot art gallery and eat pink cupcakes. It was a really good time!

And thanks to everyone's incredible generosity, Baby Saoirse will definately not go naked! lol! You guys rock! THANK YOU! :D

Correction

I think the way I've been posting our weekly baby growth updates is a little confusing. I'm posting the update for the week we are IN, not the week we've just completed. That's the way my pregnancy planner is set up so it made sense to me. But now it's saying I'm full term and that is sort of misleading. Yes, i WILL be full term next weekend, just to clarify. Right now we are just a day short of 36 weeks according to the first due date (Sept. 7).

Also, there is a big change of plans in the works. I can't spill the beans yet...but I will as soon as it's confirmed.

Week 37 (Begins Sun.)

See the big picture
How your baby's growing:Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Power Down

Yesterday was an interesting day. We had already nixed plans to work outside because of the stifling heat, and then nixed plans to work INSIDE because of power brown outs. It took all afternoon for KCP&L to fix the problem. In the meantime, our neighbor Abby went and got a blow up pool, we made limeade and then we all had a pool party in our shared driveway! Afterwards the dogs got baths which they weren't very happy about. lol.

Pre-Natal Massage

that...was....AWESOME! thanks to Mark for the best present EVAR! Just got back from my 60 min. massage and I'm all floppy and loopy. :)

Dr. Appt. (8/1)

Another great visit! Baby is measuring between 34 & 35 weeks which is right in line with both of our due dates. (9/7 & 9/11) The midwife seemed to think that she might be a little bit posterior
(head down but facing front instead of back) and suggested keeping up with doing pelvic tilts on hands & knees to try to turn her. She didn't seem too terribly concerned about it though.

I actually lost 1/2 lb. since last visit, so I guess that 4 lb. gain evened out. sweet!

Next visit is Aug. 15 and after that every week until baby's birthday!

Week 36/Month 9 + Belly Pic

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.